Make Your 2020 New Year’s Resolutions Ocean Friendly
Once the excitement of Christmas is over and we’ve possibly piled on a few pounds; we start thinking about the promise of the new year and all the hopes and dreams we have for those next 12 months. Many of us start crafting the ultimate New Year’s resolution list which, up until now, has quite possibly been filled with personal goals, whether that be reaching a demanding fitness target, travelling to a magical location, reading more books or meeting new exciting people. No matter how many good intentions we have, for one reason or another, many of these resolutions fail to flourish past the first few weeks of spring, maybe they even peter out before January is over. So this year why not try something new? Why not make New Year’s resolutions which will benefit something bigger than just you, something that will benefit the entire ocean and all future generations to come? Surely this grand goal is something we can stay motivated to achieving?
It is now estimated that one garbage truck full of plastic enters our seas every minute; this is eight million plastic items and fragments per day turning our oceans into a synthetic soup. Imagine yourself standing on top of a cliff, slowly dropping each individual piece of your plastic waste into the ocean below you. An empty shampoo bottle tumbles down, a carrier bag is whisked by the wind out towards the horizon, a water bottle falls and floats on the surface while that chewed pen lid almost immediately disappears from view. We would not catch ourselves doing any of this in real life, the notion of it is unspeakable, yet if our plastic waste, produced in our very own homes, somehow tumbles into the ocean out of our eye sight once we’ve ‘disposed’ of it, it’s ok? Plastic takes centuries to break down, with just one water bottle taking at least 450 years to degrade, so there really is no such thing as disposing of your plastic junk; it remains on our planet no matter where you throw it.
If you’re sick of hearing about the plastic threatening our one and only beautiful blue planet, why not make one of the following suggestions your New Year’s resolution for 2020? You will be protecting not only your favourite local beaches but also help hundreds of species across our oceans. Here are our top ten ocean-friendly ideas.
1. Say no to single use plastic – Take your own water bottle, coffee cup and shopping bags with you so you can easily refuse the single use items sold by many stores. You can also refuse non-necessities such as plastic straws or stirrers which will help make local stores wake up to the changing demands of increasingly green consumers. Why not try making one sustainable switch a month to help spread out the cost? New cotton shopping bags in January followed by shampoo bars in February and beeswax wraps in March. By this time next year, you will have eliminated 12 whole sources of unnecessary plastic; you’re basically a zero-waste guru by then!
2. Avoid pointless packaging – Try wrapping your fruit and vegetables in reusable cloth bags or just ditch the packaging altogether. Do those oranges really need to be cradled in that plastic netting anyway? Does the plastic bag around bananas really protect them better than their own skin?
3. Up your recycling game – Where plastic is unavoidable, try and recycle as much of your plastic as possible. You can check out your local council’s website where they list exactly which plastics can be collected from your doorstep which will also make sure you don’t accidentally contaminate your whole bag of recycling. Also try and avoid black plastic which is currently not recyclable!
4. Post positive ocean messages on social media – Now this is a resolution which is easy to do even in the coldest, darkest nights of winter. Share some ocean positivity with your friends, maybe you did a massive beach clean or found out about the opening of a new zero-waste shop in your town. Spread positivity amongst your community to help inspire more people to take action against our plastic tide. Maybe you just want to share an article you found really fascinating about coral reefs, Arctic ice, blue whales, anything!
5. Become a master of the ocean – Have you always wanted to learn more about the ocean? Why not take this year to really master your ocean knowledge by attending local talks and events hosted by marine conservation organisations or maybe by joining a short course on marine mammals. Maybe you just want to finally find the time to read more books or magazines about our blue planet. You can start small by reading our weekly blog on everything ocean related!
6. Take part in beach, river, mountain or city cleans – Never quite find the time to pick up as much plastic as you’d like? Make 2020 the year you become a true ocean warrior by clearing up plastic, fishing gear and general junk. You can do this anywhere near your house, be it a river, lake, woodland or city street.
7. Support organisations which work tirelessly to protect the ocean – Supporting the charities which are working so hard to secure a positive future for our oceans is a great way to help out plus you get some extra tips from them on how you can make a difference whilst also meeting amazing likeminded people.
8. Choose sustainable seafood – Our oceans are currently being dramatically overfished to the point of population collapse. Why not switch up the fish you eat and start eating species which are less threatened by our seafood cravings. You could also start eating seasonal fish while boosting your recipe repertoire.
9. Make annual holidays and festive events more sustainable – Birthdays, Halloween, Christmas; they are all focussed around high consumption and high levels of plastic. Why not aim to make your festive periods plastic free this year. You might also want to try and have a more sustainable summer beach holiday by choosing eco-friendly tourist operators who ensure they protect local wildlife.
10. Convince your friends to be ocean friendly too – What could be easier than sharing your love for the ocean? Keep your friends and family in check by tackling zero-waste lifestyles together and hosting family filled beach cleans as a way to catch up on all your busy lives.
Good luck! We hope your 2020 is filled with beautiful beach cleans, inspiring people and less plastic than ever!
By Neve McCracken-Heywood